


breathe

by yue_xiang



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Arranged Marriage, M/M, Supernatural Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:21:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26141770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yue_xiang/pseuds/yue_xiang
Summary: second prince jaehyun simply thinks the river nymph betrothed to his older brother is the most beautiful thing he's ever seen ~~(please see notes)
Relationships: Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	breathe

**Author's Note:**

> ya know how stephanie meyer iconically dreamt up one scene and wrote a whole series of books around it? well, i'm small brain so i blasted out the one scene only and called it a day, 
> 
> lowkey just wanted to write winwin and water related purple prose because he's so graceful but i hope you enjoy, i'm new to nct so if the characterisations off then i oop-

Soon enough, night fell, but refused to take Jaehyun with it. Instead the young prince lays wide awake upon his too large bed, flashes of the way the nymph had looked at him fizzling afresh in the stream of his memory before fading again. 

Sicheng, the river nymph sent to their palace to marry Taeyong. 

All his life he had known marriage to be a political tool, it came at the price of being royal born, certain as the sun rising in the east. So he had always been ambivalent to the idea. Duty-bound, he never lashed out against it like some of his more romantic younger siblings, but also dull, the hope of a true love washing cold in his heart. 

But those clear eyes, deceptively calm like the surface of the ocean on a peaceful day, one look at them and all his messy in-between feelings had been coaxed to rise, both sides conflicting loudly in his mind until it wore him out just lying down, his brain refusing to let him sleep. 

Sleep. 

Jaehyun prods and ponders at the word suddenly so distant sounding. 

Was that what Sicheng is doing right now? Down by the castle pond? Could he really? It was his first day separated from his clan, after all, and fishes were sensitive to different types of water, weren’t they? Does that hold true for nymphs? Half-frazzled anyway, Jaehyun was already padding his way barefoot, dressed only in his pyjamas, across the corridors before he even fully registered his actions. 

The midnight view of the pond was surreal in the way that a familiar area shouldn’t be so drastically different just because it was lit by a different time of day. Pond and sky lying on two sides of a mirror. Tranquil water reflects the inky black sky. A trail of lanterns left out by the castle keepers for vision shine with the same mellowness as the stars; the moon in the sky and the moon in the water smiling at each other. Around him, the buzzing sound of cicadas chirping seem to indicate the boundary between here and reality. Here, the lessons that he spent so much time trying to learn in stuffy classrooms were suddenly so blindingly true, sure as every heartbeat in the world played a perfect melody conducted by the gods. 

Jaehyun is almost afraid the creaking of the wooden platform would destroy this world. Still, he moves until he reaches the edge, noting, with a tingling sense of disappointment, that Sicheng was nowhere in sight. 

Figures. 

He lowers himself to sit at the edge anyway, letting his feet dip gently in the water, enjoying its cool. Admittedly he should have thought things through a little more. What had he been planning to say to the nymph anyway? At least the relaxing sound of nature was a solace. 

Until something sharp poked at the sole of his foot. 

“Yaa-!!” He snatches both legs up in one smooth motion. The worry that there had been an hitherto unknown danger living in the pond was only starting to form when a joyful laugh, clear as wind chimes and light as bubbles, catches his attention. 

“It was you?!” There isn’t heat in his voice, how could he get angry in the face of such pretty mirth. He does, however, splash some water back to return the jest. 

“It was me~” Sicheng grins, upper body bobbing on the water surface. Then the smile fades into a more neutral expression. “But what are you doing here so late, Your Highness?” 

Jaehyun slumps, his mind not supplying any believable lies at the moment so truth gushes from his chest instead. “I was kinda wondering how you sleep.” 

“How?” Sicheng echoes. 

“Yeah, how. I’ve never thought about it before now but you don’t have beds underwater, do you?” He’s aware of how ignorant and possibly rude he’s being, so he opts to look up at the sky. 

“We do actually.” The sarcasm is biting but doesn’t cross into aggressiveness. 

“I definitely deserved that one.” Jaehyun leans backwards, resting his palms behind him. “But I was genuinely curious. And it’s kind of scary how I’ve never considered it before. You know? I walk past this pond everyday but I’ve never stopped to wonder how the fishes sleep. Really makes me wonder what else I’m taking for granted.” 

Sicheng opens and closes his mouth, frowning because he’s unsure of what to say, but knowing with certainty that the moment was fragile enough that his words mattered. 

“Errm, Your Highness?” 

Jaehyun cranes his head over then. “Just call me Jaehyun.” 

“Jae…” Sicheng starts and gives up immediately. “Actually, there are many ways that fish rest. Sometimes they lower their physical activity and hover in place, and sometimes they wedge themselves into certain spaces like coral to rest. But nymphs are closer to humans than fish so we need deeper sleep, that’s why we look for grottos or make nets out of seaweed. And if we really need to, we hold onto each other too.” 

If he wasn’t good with words of comfort, he figured the next best thing was to answer the question. 

“And err,” Jaehyun continues, really weighing his phrasing carefully, “have you er, have you been able to do that?” 

“To find a grotto?” 

“No, to err, to sleep.” 

Sicheng tilts his head to the side. “Did you come here to check on me?” 

“Yes and no?” But the audible question mark at the end of his line had them both snickering. “Well, I was a little concerned but it’s partly because I couldn’t sleep either.” 

For a moment, the followup urge to ask him what’s wrong came over Sicheng but he reigned it in with an exhale. “You’re kinda weird.” He says instead. 

“Weird?” Jaehyun’s pitch goes up an octave with genuine befuddlement. 

Sicheng huffs a bit then he pulls himself out of the water, crossing his forearms on the wooden platform, and dropping his head into them. “I haven’t really been able to sleep.” He sighs, soft as a whisper. Answering the question. “Everything’s different, as you may have surmised.” 

Jaehyun lets out a heartful chuckle, a hand instinctively coming up to ruffle the nymph’s damp hair. “Can I ask about what life used to be like for you? Or is it too soon?” 

Sicheng startles, freezing up, and the sound of cicadas is suddenly deafening. Alarm bells go off in Jaehyun’s head, an apology already working its way up to his tongue when Sicheng snaps his head up, “do you want to see for yourself?” 

“What do you mean?” His brows furrow. 

But Sicheng holds the same steady gaze as he asks again, “do you want to see what it’s like underwater?” 

“Sure, but how-” 

He’s unceremoniously cut off by Sicheng pulling himself gracefully further out of the water, til they’re chest to chest, and catching Jaehyun’s mouth with his own. To call it a kiss would be Jaehyun’s wishful thinking, Sicheng definitely seemed to treat it as insignificantly as breathing. It was so fleeting too, a simple exchange, and then the nymph was pulling back, mischief glinting in his eyes. 

“You ready?” He asks. 

“For wha-” Jaehyun doesn’t get to answer because he’s yanked firmly by the arms until he’s tumbling ungracefully through the surface of the pond. There wasn’t enough time to process his situation and, caught mid-sentence, Jaehyun finds himself sucking in a breath involuntarily, instantly anticipating the burn to seer straight into his lungs, only to pause. 

Blink. 

He was underwater and he was breathing just fine. 

Sicheng was still holding him by the wrists, waiting patiently for Jaehyun to regain his senses. When the tension in the prince ebbed, he tugs them both, sinking like dissipating ink further down into the water. 

For what it’s worth, the pond was deeper than Jaehyun had ever known, betrayed by it’s brilliantly cerulean calm. But in the dark of night, the bare wisps of light flickering between curtains of fluid hematite, if Sicheng was actually trying to pull Jaehyun into another realm, the latter doesn’t think he would have the capacity to feel slighted. 

One of his teachers' voices rings out then, flush with warning. “If it were an assassin, you would be dead.” 

But instead of being alarmed, when Sicheng twirls them both upwards, closer to the surface, where patches of moonlight manage to diffuse their way through the ink, Jaehyun is filled with amazement. 

Water or not, he has simply forgotten how to breathe, looking up towards the light prettily rippling across the border where aqua meets air. With Sicheng, beautiful as ever but made more ethereal when the current bobs his hair in constant motion and the faint light adds a milky glow to his skin. Sicheng smiles without bubbles. Jaehyun has no idea what his expression must be in the moment. 

Once more Sicheng tugs them downwards, back into the blindness, but this time he spins and twists like he’s playing. Sometimes he lets go of Jaehyun, only to return, latching on to a different body part. His shoulders, his other arm, his leg, his fingers. Like he’s teaching the prince to dance. But always, Jaehyun thinks, he holds his heart too, because when he lets go, it plummets. 

And one time, Sicheng doesn’t grab any one point in particular, but swoops in for something like a hug, wrapping his arms around Jaehyun as he pulls his head into the latter’s chest, their legs intertwining. Without hesitation, Jaehyun circles his arms around the nymph. They stay still as Jaehyun feels his surroundings bend around him accompanied by the characteristic half muffled sound of being underwater, and Sicheng’s deep breathing against his abdomen, almost as if he were asleep. 

Then, like a wave, Sicheng is moving again, revving himself up first from the twitch of his ankles, a bend of the knee, his spine peeling back, as he propels them both straight upwards. And Jaehyun knew with certainty, although he didn’t feel any different, once they broke the surface, that an instant longer inside and he would start choking. But thanks to Sicheng’s perfect timing, the transition from breathing underwater to breathing air was so smooth, it almost wasn’t there. 

He takes a look at the nymph’s face, and is suddenly hit with an understanding. _ “Can I ask what life used to be like for you?” _ He had asked. 

“Thank you.” He says lamely, unsure of how else to respond. 

“No, thank you, Jaehyun.” Sicheng shakes his head. “For asking.” 

“I think it was a pretty normal thing to do though.” 

And Sicheng smiles, small and private, “weird.” He sighs. “The sun’s about to rise soon, you should get going, Your Highness.” 

“It’s back to Your Highness?” 

Sicheng splashes water in his face but the prince catches the pink in the nymph’s ears anyway. “Ugh, just go.” 

“Okay, Sicheng.” Jaehyun heaves himself quite effortlessly back onto the wood platform. “I’m going now, Sicheng.” He calls, deliberately not going anywhere. “It was nice getting to know you, Sicheng.” 

At which point Sicheng drops himself into the water but could still feel Jaehyun’s joy babbling from above. 

Meanwhile, with the corner of his lips still upturned, Jaehyun turns on his heel to leave when a splash against his feet calls his attention back. 

Sicheng was there, delicate hands holding onto the platform while the rest of him appeared to want to slip back into the water as soon as possible. Unfair how someone could wear shyness so adorably. So Jaehyun leans down. There is some unsure eye movement but finally Sicheng floats closer, pulling himself up a little bit so he can speak into Jaehyun’s ear. 

“You can call me WinWin.” 

He has bestowed his water name. 

Then Sicheng is gone, this time for sure. And Jaehyun is left still crouching, wearing waterlogged pyjamas and a thousand watt smile. 

**Author's Note:**

> additional points about this au that i'll probably never write out proper  
> \- dotae is side endgame, doyoung is a prince from a rival kingdom and initially slated to marry jaehyun  
> \- luwoo is also side endgame, jungwoo is one of the aforementioned romantic younger siblings and is very passionate about un-star-crossing the star-crossed couples, he ends up with a clumsy but warm hearted peasant, lucas


End file.
